You are now in California and the U.S. category.

As three raging storms pummeled Northern California in early January, the lakes rose, the floodgates opened, the rivers swelled, and the waterfalls roared. The landscape that became dry and parched during five years of drought turned into a wet, soggy mess. Trickles of water became surging flows, and floodplains transformed into massive seas of water. The gallery below of before-and-after images shows the dramatic impact the heavy rains have had on water levels at lakes, reservoirs, dams and rivers across the top half of the state.

Watching all the water raging in area streams, creeks and rivers, pounding over waterfalls and spilling out of Shasta Dam is a welcome sight after years of drought in Northern California. As an atmospheric river brings feet of snow to the mountains and more rain than the valley has seen in years, the Bureau of Reclamation has opened the floodgates, so to speak, and upped flows from Shasta and Keswick dams to clear out room as it expects even more water to pour into the lake.

Ah, California: state of glistening swimming pools, gushing water fountains, and drenched backyard slip-n-slides. Well, not so much, at least for the past five years. Since 2012, the golden state has been stuck in a seemingly never-ending drought that some experts have said is the worst the state has seen in 1,200 years. For the past five years, dwindling reservoirs, shrinking lakes, and dried-up farm fields have dotted the terrain.

The surge of water from this week’s storms is being closely monitored by California water officials from their hub in Sacramento.

Floodwaters from a storm-swollen Russian River finally started receding Thursday evening, allowing residents forced from their homes to begin the painstaking and messy task of cleaning up and repairing damages. “The water’s going down,” Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman said. “Now comes the work.” Amid scattered showers, the Russian River finally began dropping below flood stage of 32 feet at 5 p.m. It is expected to continue dropping over coming days, draining low-lying areas around Guerneville and elsewhere that had been swamped with floodwaters.